Books this year

I regret posting a partial list of the books I’d read through May 22 HERE, just because now it seems a little anticlimactic. Although no I don’t because I was really excited to share what I’d read.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash

One of my goals this year was to never be without a book, and I mostly succeeded. I only read two all of December because I was waiting for the eLibrary to come through and I went through a dry spell in February for reasons I no longer remember. I used to write down all titles I’d read on a bookmark and move it from book to book, but now I keep a running list in my journal. I read one “real” book all year (Abby’s copy of “Dreams from my Father”) and the rest were on my Kindle. Kinda hard to go the ol’ bookmark route with that routine solidly in place.

(And I know, real books are great. My girls and Eric are real book fans and we do our part for the local bookstore. I just prefer my Kindle — I like having my entire collection in my backpack. It’s one of my anxiety coping methods, so …)

Anyway, here’s the first half of my book list, to review:

• A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir (second in a series of three and fantastic)
• Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham (entertaining)
• Songs for a Teenage Nomad by Kim Culbertson (reread; heartbreaking and wonderful)
• Renegades by Marissa Meyer (love this author)
• Heartless by Marissa Meyer
• Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama (eye-opening!)
• All Those Things We Never Said by Mark Levy (don’t bother)
• Wolf by Wolf and Blood by Blood by Ryan Graudin (SO GOOD)
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (wonderful, one of the best all year)
• Iron by Iron by Ryan Graudin (novella, also great)
• Cinder and Scarlet and Cress and Winter, all by Marissa Meyer (rereads, totally entertaining)
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (loved)
• The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (cute)
• Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (amazing)

Since May 22, I’ve read:

• Fan Girl by Rainbow Rowell
• Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (both rereads, two favorites of mine)
• Persuasion by Jane Austen (lost count how many times I’ve read this one. It’s my favorite Austen)
• The Fates Divide by Veronica Ross (Carve the Mark II; even better than the first one)
• Dreams of Running by Mara Fields (my best friend in high school, really great — she tackles ALL the issues)
• A Reaper at the Gate by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes series)
• The Wrath and the Dawn, and The Rose and the Dagger by Renee Ahdieh (both were really great)
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (wasn’t sure I’d like this one at first but found it entertaining enough)
• The Leavers by Lisa Ko (seriously great)
• One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus (also seriously great)
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (WHAT TOOK ME SO LONG? This book was amazing; Abby recommendation)
• The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg (don’t bother)
• Harry Potter — the entire series (rereads, still in love)
• Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (so great)
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (nope)
• Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass IIV; I’ve put COUNTLESS hours into this series so I was damn well gonna finish it!)
• Archenemies by Marissa Mayer (Renegades II; great)
• Eleanor Oliphant is Perfectly Fine by Gail Honeyman (one of my favorites this year)
• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (another favorite and an Abby recommendation)

It turns out that I read 44 books this year, and while I’d kind of like to crank another one out before the year ends to make it an even (odd?) 45 so my OCD calms down, I’m going to take a breath and let it go. And P.S., I was going to keep track of pages read, but it turns out I don’t care. I’m more interested in the stories.

Most of these were checked out from our county’s eLibrary. A few I enjoyed so much that I purchased them AND any subsequent sequels. I’ve also learned that the books available on Amazon Prime are lacking as far as I’m concerned.

I’ve got a new list of books I’d like to read in 2019. I looked up best book lists on Goodreads and fell into a couple of “best book” articles (one from Time Magazine, I think?). I’ve got more nonfiction on my list for the coming year; we’ll see how I do with that. My whole life is nonfiction, so I prefer the break that comes from reading fiction.

What were the best books you read this year? I got a little space still on my 2019 list. 😉